Typically, a golf club has two main parts, the shaft and the head. The shaft and head for each type of club, i.e., metal- or wood-type clubs, including drivers and fairway clubs, iron-type clubs, including wedges, utility- or specialty-type clubs, and putter-type clubs, may have different properties. When manufacturing many of these club heads, it is desirable to design the head such that the center of gravity is lowered and moved towards the back of the club head, i.e., away from the face. Lowering the center of gravity of a club head increases the vertical component of the force vector imparted to the ball at impact, resulting in a desired ball flight trajectory. Furthermore, moving the center of gravity towards the back of the club head causes the club to be more forgiving and playable. In other words, any negative effect on the trajectory of a golf ball is minimized or eliminated when the ball is struck away from the center of the club face.
Golf club designers have attempted to move the center of gravity lower and towards the back of the club head using a variety of technologies. For instance, designers often add weights to selected portions of the head to manipulate the center of gravity. Alternately, designers have attempted to manipulate the distribution of the amount of material in various parts of the head, e.g., more material is placed towards the bottom and back of the club head. Adding weights to a club head, however, may cause it to become heavy and unwieldy, possibly to the point of limiting a golfer's swing speed and adversely affecting the golfer's swing mechanics. Similarly, manipulating the distribution of material may result in a club head that cannot withstand the stress of repeated impacts with a golf ball that occur during normal use of the resulting golf club. Moreover, designers have also attempted to manipulate the weight distribution using low density materials, although these materials have only been placed at the crown of the club head.
Therefore, there is a continuing need for a golf club head and a method of manufacturing a golf club head having an optimally positioned center of gravity while maintaining the structural integrity of the club head.